


Happy Beginnings

by RomanoffonamoR



Series: Marvel Cinematic Littleverse [13]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Age Play, Big Phil Coulson, Bigs and littles are known, Gen, Little Maria Hill, Littleverse, Marvel Cinematic Littleverse, Non-Sexual Age Play, Schmoop
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-28
Updated: 2018-03-28
Packaged: 2019-04-14 06:13:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,962
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14129826
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RomanoffonamoR/pseuds/RomanoffonamoR
Summary: Maria and Coulson have a midnight heart to heart following Natasha's going away party.





	Happy Beginnings

Maria nearly dropped her bowl of cereal as a figure in the shadowy corner suddenly stepped into view. “Jesus Christ Coulson! Are you trying to give me a heart attack?!” she exclaimed as she set her midnight breakfast on the table and placed a hand over her racing heart.

She had woken up about twenty minutes ago still clothed in her duck themed pajamas and cuddled in the makeshift nest her Siblings had built for her in their bedroom. Realizing that everyone else was still dropped and fast asleep, she’d eventually climbed out of her temporary bed and made her way into the kitchen to get something to eat.

“Not at all. You didn’t see me enter and I didn’t want to scare you so I just…”

“You just stood in that dark corner and waited until I had something to drop before revealing yourself?” Maria asked, eyebrow raised and one hand on her hip.

“The plan sounded better in my head.”

“They usually do,” Maria grinned this time, taking a seat at the table and pushing at her cereal with her spoon.

“Mind if I sit with you?” Coulson asked, gesturing at the seat opposite Maria.

“I swear to God Coulson, if you make this weird between us…”

“Not weird, Maria. I’m just being polite. I’d have asked you any other night, too.”

He wasn’t wrong and Maria frowned quietly as she realized this. She was already on the defensive and she didn’t even know what kind of game they were playing yet.

“Sorry, I’m just a little….” she raised her hand and waved it in the air, trying to find the word she was looking for.

“Just a Little, huh?” Coulson asked with a smirk as he finally sat down across from her.

Maria stuck her tongue out at him. “I was gonna say, just a little out of sorts, but yeah, that works too.”

The darkened kitchen grew quiet for a few moments as Maria battled with her cereal, trying to drown all of the colorful bits into the milk with her spoon. She liked them better when they were soggy.

“So, Lucky Charms, huh? Wanna toss me a green clover?”

Maria squished the first green clover marshmallow she saw into the bottom of her bowl. “Get your own damn cereal, _sir.”_

Coulson laughed at her response and she grinned, finally taking a bite of her midnight snack. This was easy and familiar, the two of them joking after hours about mundane things. A large part of her had been worried that all of this would go away once he’d found out about her. Which was a pretty stupid thing to worry about considering he’d known all along.

“Did Fury tell you?” she asked after a few moments, watching as he finally did get up and began making himself a bowl of cereal.

He shook his head as he rifled through the drawers for a clean spoon. “No. Your orientation has never actually come up between us. I knew because of Bogotá.”

Maria almost dropped her spoon on the way to her mouth at the mention of her first mission together with Coulson. He had been assigned her Handler shortly after she’d finished training at the academy and a simple milk run in the capital city of Bogotá was to be her maiden voyage as an agent of SHIELD. Unlike her other two maiden voyages, this one didn’t quite work out for her.

She’d been shot, in the _ass_ of all places, and Coulson had left his command post on the quinjet in order to extract her from the drug cartel’s headquarters they’d been trying to infiltrate. Unfortunately their jet had been discovered and captured, forcing them to hide out in the basement of an abandoned apartment building somewhere in the cities outskirts while they waited for backup to arrive.

“Oh god, because I peed on you? You told me that was normal with bullet wounds like mine,” Maria protested, her face turning bright red as she recalled how mortified she was to lose control of her bladder while her commanding officer was struggling to carry her over his shoulder past enemy lines.

“What? No, not that. Although I’m starting to grow concerned that there’s a theme building there…” Coulson laughed to himself as he set his freshly made bowl of Lucky Charms at the table and took his seat once again. “Peeing on yourself in battle is a time honored tradition. Even us Bigs do it when the circumstances are right.”

Maria narrowed her eyes at the man. “You’ve wet yourself on the battlefield?”

“Mhmm. You should ask Melinda May about Belgrade next time you see her. She tells the story a lot better than I do,” he responded, a twinkle of fondness and perhaps mischief in his eyes.

“Okay seriously, what is it with missions in cities that start with a B? If you want to investigate a running theme you might want to try there first.” Maria pursed her lips in thought. Her most recent mission in Berlin had been a giant cluster fuck as well. _Freaky._

“You’re right. That is kinda weird.” Coulson paused with his spoon halfway to his lips, obviously running through his own list of fubared missions.

“So anyway, Bogotá. If it wasn’t the peeing, what was it then? I don’t remember anything after you knocked me out in order to retrieve the bullet. Which, thank you by the way. I’m not sure my dignity would have recovered being awake while my SO dug a bullet out of my asscheek.”

“It was more upper thigh than asscheek, but you’re welcome,” Coulson replied with a grin before slurping some milk off his spoon. He then set it back down in his bowl and pushed the entire thing forward so he could cross his hands on the table in front of him. “You called me Papa the second night we were there.”

Maria actually did drop her spoon this time as she froze in her spot.

“Relax, Maria. I don’t mean it like that. You were still coming off the drugs. I had to remove your clothes in order to clean your wound and change your bandages and when I was finished I guess I kind of got stuck on autopilot. Keep in mind I was used to working with The Three Bears. Anyway, after fixing you up and getting you dressed I’d tucked you into the makeshift bed and kissed you on the forehead goodnight. Afterwards when I tried to pull away you reached out for me. You said ‘don’t leave me, Papa.’”

Maria was glad it was dark in the kitchen since she was certain her face was an ugly mess of emotions in that moment. She’d never called anyone Papa before. Her real father had simply been dad, while _he_ had preferred to be called _Daddy._ Papa was foreign to her, but it also felt inexplicably familiar. Was Coulson her Papa?

“At first I thought you might have been calling out for your actual dad, but once I’d laid down on the cot next to you I’d realized the truth.”

“How come you didn’t say anything? I remember asking you later in medical what happened while I was drugged. You’d told me I made a pass at you and that you turned me down. Why did you lie?” Maria felt her heart squeezing inside her chest as she thought about how different things could have been if he’d told her what had really happened.

Coulson shrugged his shoulders, a hard to decipher look spreading across his face. “I guess I thought I was saving you from having to reveal something you obviously wanted to keep hidden. I had no idea why you were lying about being a Big. I _still_ have no idea why you lied.” He paused here to run a hand through his thinning hair. He seemed more upset with himself than he was at the situation.

“I suppose I could have at least addressed it with you in private, but you just seemed so relieved when I made up that story about you making a pass at me. I guess I thought it would be better to let you come to me with the truth when you were ready.”

“And if I had? Come to you? Before now, I mean?” Maria could feel the tears welling up behind her eyelids and she quickly shook her head to try and get rid of them before they could spill down her cheeks.

“I dunno, Maria. Maybe things would have been different. Maybe I would have been your Papa. Or Uncle, technically. Maybe you would have come out to SHIELD. Maybe you wouldn’t have been promoted, or maybe you still would have. I don’t know. I don’t think it’s going to help either of us moving forward to focus on things that could have been. You’re still my friend. You’re still the Deputy Director. If you want to be my Little in the same way that Clint and Natasha are my Littles we can talk about that, sure.”

No amount of shaking her head was gonna get rid of the tears now freely flowing down her face. Abandoning her cereal, she pushed her chair back from the table and circled around to Coulson, practically falling into his waiting arms as he turned in his seat to embrace her.

“Shhh, it’s alright. We’ll figure this thing out. I’m here for you in whatever capacity you need,” Coulson soothed as he helped her to sit across his legs and lean against his chest. She wasn’t on the verge of a drop but his comfort was still just as intoxicating as it had been earlier when she _was_ dropped.

“You’ve got a family that loves you, Maria. Nick and I will play whatever role you need us to. And if you want to continue keeping this from the rest of the organization that’s fine by me. But if you _do_ want to come out to the others we’ll do everything we can to make it as painless as possible for you.”

Maria wasn’t sure yet what she wanted to do regarding the rest of SHIELD, but simply knowing that both of them would back up whatever decision she made helped a great deal. “Maybe someday, but not yet,” she eventually answered, resting her head against his shoulder and pressing her nose into his neck. He smelled like Laura, only mustier. A little less like flowers and more like the soil they grew in. It was comforting.

“Someday it is then,” Coulson agreed, his hand coming up and rubbing along her back in a soothing rhythm. She was starting to feel tired again and cursed inside her head at her body’s betrayal. Coulson had probably been on his way back to headquarters when he’d stopped in the kitchen for a snack. If she went to sleep now he wouldn’t be there when she woke up again.

“And outside of SHIELD? Could we maybe-?” she cut herself off, not sure what she wanted from him yet. This was nice - the comfort of sitting in his lap, even as an adult. She’d also enjoyed playing with him during the barbecue earlier. It just didn’t seem realistic that they’d ever get a chance to do these things outside of the Bears apartment. SHIELD was too big and had eyes everywhere. Someone would see them and out her before she was ready.

“Whatever you need, we’ll figure it out. Even if it means knocking down another wall or two in this apartment to make room for a fourth Little Bear.”

Maria’s chest tightened at the thought and she nodded her head in response. She was afraid if she tried to speak now she’d end up crying with happiness.

“Do you think you’re alright to go back to bed now? You can use the guest room if you want since you’re not dropped. I’ve already packed up my things and changed the linens on the bed.” Coulson prodded her to sit up and she reluctantly pulled her head from his shoulder so she could look down at him. “I can also wake Natasha up if you still want some company. I wish I could stay with you longer, Ria, but I’ve got to get back to the Triskelion. Strike Team Beta is prepping for a mission as we speak.”

Maria felt her heart skip a beat at his use of her shortened nickname and she briefly contemplated putting up more of a fight. She really didn’t want him to leave yet but she understood that the job came first, and that there were other agents out there counting on Coulson to keep them safe. She couldn’t be selfish.

“I’ll be okay. I’ll probably use the guest room until Nat wakes up and we can go next door into her regular room,” she responded, not realizing at first what _other_ secret she had just given away. Once her brain caught up with her mouth she looked away as her cheeks turned red in embarrassment. “Oops.”

Coulson simply shook his head and laughed, nudging Maria’s knees so she would slide off his lap and back onto the floor. “Don’t worry, I’d figured that part out _months_ ago,” he told her, poking her in the nose before she could stand up and move away. “That secret is also safe with me. And Nick, since I’m sure he’s picked up on it too.”

Maria relaxed a little as she nodded her head. She grabbed both of their half empty bowls and dumped them into the sink. Clint could clean them out tomorrow. He owed her one for stealing the last S’more.

As she washed her hands in the sink she could hear Coulson getting his things together in the hallway. “Hey Coulson?” she asked as she turned the water off and began to dry her hands on a kitchen towel. The man popped his head back around the corner, soon followed by the rest of him now fully dressed and ready to depart.

“Yeah? You changed your mind about me waking someone up?”

Maria quickly shook her head and began to wring her hands in front of her. “No, I was just... Your mission - is it somewhere that begins with a B?” she asked, feeling a sudden rush of dread wash over her.

Coulson looked startled by her question, but eventually his expression softened and he walked further into the kitchen in order to wrap his arms around her once more. “We’re heading to New Mexico, so no, not with a B. I’ll be fine Maria. Barton’s going to be joining up with us in a few days and you know he’s got my back.”

The relief she felt almost made her knees grow weak, but thankfully Coulson was still holding onto her so she didn’t fall to the floor. “Alright, good. And make sure you watch his back too. He’s my Big Brother now. If he gets hurt you’re gonna have _three_ very angry bears to deal with,” she mock threatened, mostly so she could repeat out loud that he was her Brother and she was considered a bear. She’d never get tired of saying or hearing either of those things.

“I’d promise to bring him back unharmed, but this _is_ Barton we’re talking about. Will you settle for breathing and in one piece?”

Maria laughed at the serious way he said that but nodded her head just the same. “I’ll take it. You might have to bargain a little bit harder with Bobbi though. She’s fond of more than just his lungs.”

“Duly noted.”

Silence soon enveloped the kitchen, but after a few moments Maria began to pull out of the hug. She wasn’t going to be the cause of Coulson’s mission being delayed. “Be safe out there. I heard there’s a lot of strange activity going on in that quarter. Possibly an 084.”

The corner of Coulson’s lip curled just slightly, confirming to her that she _had_ heard right and that _is_ what he was going to be dealing with. _Damnit._ First Natasha was going away for God knows how long to deal with Tony Stark, of all people, and now Coulson and Clint were heading off to play with an object of unknown origin? She was going to be a _mess_ by the end of the first week, she just knew it.

“We’ll be careful, I promise. And if you need anything while we’re gone you know Nick’s door is always open. He may not be Papa material but he makes a damn good Uncle. The fun kind, not the crazy kind.”

Maria laughed at that and wiped the few remaining tears from her cheeks. “I’ll be okay, Coulson. Now go, before you miss your check in and I have to write you up.” She pushed at his shoulder, aiming him back towards the hallway. He batted playfully at her hands before stooping to pick up the duffel he had left against the wall.

“Go back to sleep, Hill. I’ll check in with you when I can.” He nodded his head in her direction and then turned and headed down the darkened hallway towards the front of the apartment.

Maria stood there watching his retreating back until she couldn’t make him out in the shadows anymore. Once she heard the front door close she turned and headed back towards the Little bedroom. She may not have been dropped but she wanted the comfort anyway.

Everything would work out alright. She had to have faith. But in the meantime she had her nest and she had her Siblings, and that was more than enough to help her get back to sleep.


End file.
